It is the first week of August and the Lammastide is upon us. The weather is warm and decidedly agreeable. Less oppressively warm when compared to the previous month but the gardens are an unpleasant brown. Many fruits, in particular the blackberries; are ripening early.
On the last day of July I travelled to visit friends for a barbeque and to plan our holiday. This will be our second group trip to Scotland. The visit was obviously as pleasant as I expected but it held a certain poignant significance. It was the first time that we had been together as a group since 2019. The terrible Chinese Plague has prevented us from participating in a great many activities and our social involvement has been severely curtailed.
This was my primary thought as I sat in the sun and admired the Staffordshire countryside. I observed the fine oaks across the field, their boughs swaying in the gentle breeze. I was able to appreciate how lush the land was about me. It being quite different from my home county of Derbyshire, where everything other than the wheat is seemingly dying of thirst.
The thought of death has I think, been on my mind. It frequently is, I have a somewhat morose and morbid outlook on life in general. Only the day before, the world had received the news of the passing of Nichelle Nichols. Perhaps not one of the world’s great actors but without doubt, one of the most influential. Her role in the original series of Star Trek is of particular note. Remarkable for placing a black woman in a role of significance, during a period of civil difficulties in the United States.
She unashamedly and to her great credit, used her celebrity status to promote the position of other black people and women in general. It is likely that Nichols will be remembered fondly for her activities and as a positive role-model within the world of science, as her later association with NASA is of no little worth.
I grew up watching the original Star Trek and for me, there will only ever be one Star Trek. A situation not dissimilar, to those of us old enough to remember the original Star Wars. There is only one Star Trek and only one Star Wars, the rest are pallid fabrications of little interest. Amusingly, I grew up believing her name to be Michelle, not Nichelle and I never could pronounce the name of her character.
August began with the passing of another celebrity on the 2nd but how influential that particular individual was is open to debate. There is no doubt that this particular celebrity was a controversial figure, although I have to add the caveat and observe that few took him seriously.
His Holiness Pope Michael was born David Bawden, in the state of Oklahoma (USA) in 1959. His family were ‘traditional’ Catholics with connections to the Society of Saint Pius X. A controversial and contentious organisation, whose relationship within the Roman Catholic Church is best described as strained.
Like many connected with the SSPX, his family rejected the reforms introduced following the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican. This gathering is more commonly referred to as the Second Vatican Council or simply as Vatican II. It was the twenty-first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church and met over the course of four years from 1962 to 1965.
Bawden, his family and his associates are sedevacantists. That is to say they subscribe to the doctrine, proposing that the present incumbent of the Holy See is an invalid occupant. This is because the official Pontiff supports teachings regarded by them as heretical and much of this controversy, is believed to be manifest in the modernist declarations of Vatican II.
Bawden and his family were also Conclavists. A situation whereby an alternative Pope is elected as a rival or Anti-Pope, to that of the official holder of that position in Rome. Bawden was one of at least four alternative Popes elected in the last forty years, each representing a different Catholic Church. Obviously all Conclavists are sedevacantists but not all sedevacantists are Conclavists. Some remain inside the official Catholic Church and resist the reforms from within.
David Bawden was elected Pope in 1990 by a ‘conclave’ of six people, which included himself and his parents. Out of respect to his memory, I shall refer to him by his regal or pontifical name, in the remainder of this piece.
Although he had attended seminaries in Switzerland and the USA, His Holiness Pope Michael was not a priest at the time of his election. This to us today appears unusual and it is. Yet historically, it is not unknown. One priest was elected Pope and then was promoted first to bishop and then to cardinal, prior to his ultimate coronation.
In 2011 Pope Michael was finally ordained a priest and then consecrated as a bishop, this by an independent holder of the apostolic lineage via two traditional lines. This obviously gave Pope Michael a degree of validity in the eyes of his followers, as he was now able to celebrate mass and ordain other men as priests. Activities that until then he had been unable to perform.
As one of the four identifiable anti-popes and as a representative of one of several alternative Catholic Churches, each one claiming to be the true one; it will be difficult to evaluate his legacy so soon after his death. During his life-time he was regarded as something of a novelty, perhaps even as a figure of fun but few regarded his claim to be legitimate. His particular ‘true’ Roman catholic Church has its followers but their numbers are not impressive.
Interviews with Pope Michael have shown him to be a good natured and genuine individual. Whatever we may think of his claim to be the one true Pope, he clearly felt that claim to be real, valid and relevant. As best as I can judge, he was not a play-actor or a charlatan. Although his influence during his life-time was perhaps negligible, it is likely that his posthumous reputation will benefit from this integrity.
The death of celebrities such as Nichelle Nichols and His Holiness Pope Michael, frequently touch people emotionally. The public can be moved to great sorrow and this is frequently proportional to the fame of the celebrity lost. The public and media reaction to such notable deaths are closely linked.
The reaction to the passing of Nichols has been noteworthy. Social media, various news outlets and the Internet as a whole, have all made some mention of her passing. The death of Pope Michael has passed us by almost unnoticed. Social media, in particular Facebook and Twitter; have lead the way in announcing the sad loss of a relatively young man (he was only 62). Major news outlets and the official Catholic Church have been silent. His passing is like his life, unremarkable or perhaps more accurately; unremarked upon.
Daniel Bran Griffith - The Chattering Magpie 
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